30 Summer Birthday Party Ideas for Kids

Have a birthday coming up in this summer? And need some thoughts on what to do for summer birthday party? I’ve compiled 30 themes that would be perfect summer birthday party ideas for kids. With themes galore, your only challenge is choosing from all the summer fun!

1 – Gone Fishing Party

If you have an aspiring angler celebrating a birthday this summer, I’ve got the fishing party for you!

Snag your birthday fisher hook, line, and sinker with a Vintage Fishing Party like this one via Kara’s Party Ideas!

Celebrate your birthday troller in their very own “Fishing Club” featuring a Bait and Tackle Shop full of gummy worms and tackle boxes. Kids can pick out their own fishing pole while learning about different species of fish.

Throw in some nets, buckets, and lanterns, and your fishing party will be ripe for pretend play, as well as pretend storytelling about big catches!

2 – Gardening Party

Love to play in the dirt? Then take advantage of a summer birthday with some fun gardening ideas. I hosted this gardening party when my twins were 10 and we had so much fun! Of course we had planting projects, but the guests also painted their own sunflower aprons. It was a messy party, but I didn’t have to worry about a thing because we hosted the party in our driveway.

I’ve also made it super easy for you to create your own gardening party with my Gardening Party Plan.

3 – Nerf Battle Party

If you have access to some land with trees, let the kids fire away during a Nerf War Birthday Party like this one by Jenny Cookies. Whether the birthday guests bring their own Nerf guns or you provide the Nerfware as a party favor, you’ll have a ton of fun with high-stakes hide-and-seek.

Establish a few rules of engagement for your guests, then divide into random teams. (Have the guests count off team colors: blue, orange, blue. Etc.) Give each team member a bandana in the team colors, and then let the games begin!

Set up target practice plus some boxes or hay bales for hiding spaces. Provide ammo stations, including Gatorade for refueling, and then you can sit back and watch the battle!

Afterwards, break for cake and gift opening and the have another battle with new teams. Offer prizes for the winning team and second place players alike. 

4 – Pirate Party

Celebrate pirate style like this Pirate Party on the Beach by Laura’s Little Party via HWTM. Kiddie booty could include gold coin nuggets, treasure maps, and swords. Offer the birthday party goers eye patches, pirate hooks and paper crowns as they eat from their pirate-shaped plates.

Most of us don’t have a beach nearby, so here’s a pirate party I love from Beijos Events that you could recreate in your own backyard.

Set up a pirate ship’s mast, and let the kids take turns walking the plank. Be sure to make the most of treasure maps, fishing nets, black and red when decorating your pirate birthday party!

I also have a pirate party inside the Party Plan Club that will make planning your pirate party a snap!

5 – Pool Party

The pool will do most of the work during a Birthday Pool Party, so you can focus on food and decor. (I would hire a lifeguard.)

Go WILD with pool floats. You could even provide a pool float for guest and let them take home the floats as party favors.

Decorate the pool deck with beach balls and beach towels. Set up a selfie station with flower leis, beach balls, and sunglasses. Sand pails filled with candy, beach towels, and swim goggles make perfect party favors to remind birthday celebrants of the perfect birthday.

This backyard pool party by Taryn Newton is stylish with a capital “S”. The balloons! The marquee letters! The Hawaiian colors!

6 – Bubble party

My niece hosted a bubble party for her toddler daughter and I can’t think of a more perfect theme for little ones. They get to run outside and bubbles are easy to manage, even for the youngest guests.

Set up wading pools with bubble mix, provide a variety of wands, and the kids will entertain themselves. Make your own bubble solution (here’s a reliable recipe from Food.com). You can also hire a bubble entertainer to make giant hula hoop size bubbles and perform other bubble tricks. Send guests home with bubble bottles and wands.

This pastel rainbow bubbles party featured on Kara’s Party Ideas is bound to provide loads of inspiration.

Don’t want to design a bubble party on your own? I’ve already planned it for you inside the Party Plan Club.

7 – Foam party

For a form party, you need a flat, safe area. You’ll hire a foam company to bring a foam machine. While you could set up a foam machine in the back yard, that could lead to muddy feet and quite a large mess — yuck. So, you need a place for the foam to settle — like a rented dance floor, bounce house or above ground pool. Foam can get slippery, and you do not want guests falling down and getting hurt.

You may also want to create separate foam areas if you have different ages of guests, to protect your youngest guests.

Ask guests to come in swimsuits with a tow and change of clothes.

When the party’s over, just hose down the foam.

Here’s a great back to school foam party from Pretty Life Girls.

8 – Olympics Party

Stage your own summer Olympics in the backyard. Set up races, tumbling mats, a balance beam. You don’t need to have a pool: just focus on track and field plus gymnastics. You can even make up your own events!

Hire a few neighborhood teens to help guests through the activity stations. At the end of the party, everyone gets a medal. Fastest, best team spirit, biggest jump, etc.

Check out this Summer Olympics Party on Project Nursery for decor and food.

And be sure to visit this Summer Olympics Party on Kara’s Party Ideas with great backyard games/events adapted for little ones.

Don’t miss this Winter Olympics Party from SnapHappyMom — she’s got lots of cute ideas that you could use for your Summer Olympics Party.

9 – Camping Party

Go camping in your own backyard. Set up some tents and stage a mock camping trip. Create a circle around a fire pit and roast marshmallows. Have campers drink out of canteens, gather sticks for the fire, and identify types of leaves. Give everyone magnifying glasses and be on the lookout for bugs or bears. 

I love this camping party for boy-girl twins from FreutCake. Leah has great ideas for food, activities and goodie bags.

This camping party for toddlers featured on Kara’s Party Ideas with the little bear cups — stop it. It’s too cute.

I’ve also got a pre-planned camping party for you inside the Party Plan Club.

10 – Carnival Party

Summer is the perfect time to let your guests run through carnival games. Rent carnival games and set up any outdoor games you might already have, like cornhole. Have lots of little prizes that guests can win for knocking over cans or ring toss or matching ducks. Be sure to offer popcorn and cotton candy, plus lots of water.

Check out this picnic carnival party via Catch My Party.

If planning your own carnival party feels too complicated, I’ve already planned a carnival party for you inside the Party Plan Club.

11 – Water games Party

Break out every water game you can find. Water slides, water guns, sprinklers, wading pools, water balloons and more. (You could even stage a surprise garden hose attack.) Guests will have fun while staying cool and go home ready to nap! Ask guests to come in swimsuits with a towel and change of clothes.

Need more water game ideas? Plan Party Plan and What Moms Love have you covered.

Just Add Confetti threw this water wars party for her kids, who clearly had a blast.

And Carolina Charm surprised her husband with a giant water slide in their backyard for her son’s third birthday, but it looks like it was well worth it!

12 – Scavenger Hunt Party

Have a traditional scavenger hunt or a bigger, better scavenger hunt. For a traditional scavenger hunt, give guests a list of items to find. For younger kids, give them illustrations of the items, like a drawing of a leaf. Kids who are reading can search from a list of words. Kids who are 7 or older can probably follow simple clues.

For a bigger, better scavenger hunt, you divide into teams. Give each team something small and inexpensive, like a can of soup. Then let the teams loose on your neighbors (with a chaperone for each group). At each house, the team has to offer their can of soup in trade for something bigger or better. The team with the biggest or best item at the end wins.

We’ve played versions of scavenger hunts several times. We played with clues at our Flower Fairy Party and our Selfie Scavenger Hunt Party. We played bigger-better style at our Twins Top Ten Party. Each time the kids had a blast!

13 – Fairy Party

I’ve had fairy parties indoors and outside, and I have to say that outside was a little more magical. Dress up your guests with wings and tutus. Give them each a fairy wand, and let them pretend to look for other fairies in the great outdoors. If you’re outside, it’s also easier to let your little fairies play with bubbles. And, making fairy houses is a lot less messy if you only have to worry about fairy dust falling into the grass!

I’ve made it so simple for you to host your own fairy party: just grab my Fairy Party Plan and all you have to do is shop from the links and set up your party!

14 – Flamingo Party

Flamingo is one of those party themes that’s more about bright, tropical decorating than specific activities. A flamingo theme would be great for a pool party, but also can be just about pinks and greens — call it “Let’s Flamingle!”

The prettiest backyard flamingo party is featured on Style Me Pretty — I love the fabrics, the lemonade stand and the yard games!

And don’t miss this tropical 10th birthday party from Mint Event Design with loads of pink flamingo elements! It’s a backyard birthday party with pineapples, monsterra leaves and a popsicle bar to boot.

I’ve already planned a flamingo party inside the Party Plan Club — join now to get instant access!

15 – Ice cream social

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An ice cream social is a summer rite of passage, although you might want to host this party inside to help prevent melting. I’ve got loads of tips for you in this Fourth of July ice cream social post. You can also rent an ice cream truck to come visit your party.

Or, style an ice cream cart plus cafe table: add a balloon garland from Bashify (my favorite balloon source) plus honeycomb ice cream cones for a darling pastel ice cream party like this one featured on Inspired by This.

You can see my 4th of July ice cream social here. It’s full of ideas for how to serve the ice cream and toppings. See how to make candy coated ice cream cones here.

Inside the Party Plan Club, I’ve planned an ice cream social party for you.

16 – Lemonade Stand Party

I can’t tell you how much fun our girls had hosting a lemonade stand or snowcone stand or bake sale stand over the summers. It was an annual tradition for us for a long time and let us donate the proceeds to The Confetti Foundation. At your lemonade stand party, you can style your entire dessert table to look like a lemonade stand, even if you’re not open to the public. Give each guest employee “money” and let the birthday child serve up lemonade and dessert orders to guests.

This vintage lemonade stand birthday party featured on Kara’s Party Ideas is full of charm but still has modern elements like balloon garland, long tassel garland backdrops, and great signage.

17 – Surfing Party

When my girls were little, they became absolutely obsessed with the movie Soul Surfer and even insisted on being surfer girls for Halloween one year. (You have to picture bikinis over longjohns, flip flops, and them carrying “surfboards” that I made out of foam core board.) So if you also have a surf obsessed child, throw a surfer version of a beach party.

Mint Event Design designed this first birthday surfer theme party and it’s everything you want it to be. The design would 100% work for an older child and boys or girls.

This Surf’s Up Party by Paisley Petal Events featured on Spaceships & Laserbeams has a fun surfboard backdrop and good ideas for keeping kids busy without an ocean or pool!

And here’s one more: a surfing pool party for twin girls by Beijos Events that also includes gorgeous modern picnic tables.

18 – Hawaiian Party

Just like a flamingo party, a Hawaiian party is a super flexible theme. It’s great for a pool party or Barbie party or luau party or Lilo & Stitch party. Your guests could wear leis, learn to hula dance, decorate flip flops, and have a limbo competition! We hosted a Hawaiian donut party just because my girls’ favorite donut shop at the beach was Hawaiian themed. (I loved the table settings for that party so definitely check it out.)

This Hawaiian party is a little different: it’s a blue and yellow-toned first birthday for a baby boy. I like that the color palette is a different take from the bright pinks and greens you often see with tropical themes. (And it just goes to show that any theme can work for anybody with personalization.) Also: they had hula hoops for everyone!

Now I know there’s some debate about if Moana’s island is Hawaiian, but this modern Moana fifth birthday has tropical elements that must be seen. It’s a muted pink, buff and green color palette with fun macrame and rattan elements.

19 – Beach ball

Another variation on a beach party is the beach ball party. Imagine a balloon garland with a few (or more!) beach balls thrown in. Beachball cake, pops, beach ball sugar cookies. Your activities can include “beach” volley ball, relay races with beach balls, or a water balloon fight.

This beach ball party on Pretty My Party brings a Palm Springs vibe to the theme. It includes plenty of beach balls, but it isn’t in your face with the red, yellow and blue. It’s a must-see.

20 – Mermaid

With watery colors and sequins, you’re well on your way to planning a mermaid party. Having a pool party would be great, but definitely not required! For backyard mermaid party activities: think about searching for under the sea treasures (scavenger hunt), face painting, or having a mermaid performer visit. (See this post for tips on hiring performers.)

If you’ll be hosting a boy-girl party, you can also combine this theme so that you have a sharks and mermaids party or a mermaid and pirates party.

Check out this mermaid party featured on Kara’s Party Ideas for beautiful backyard mermaid party inspiration.

I’ve planned a full mermaid party for you inside the Party Plan Club.

20 – Shark Party

Not sure what it is about a shark party, but somehow a shark theme always feels like creativity is unleashed. I love the printables that HWTM designed for her shark party, and it’s super easy to put together with supplies from Target.

If you do have a pool handy, take inspiration from Jenny Cookie’s shark birthday party for her son. Did you know you can rent a pool or reserve pool time for your party? Make sure to have shark float and super-soakers on hand, plus plenty of sunscreen.

And here’s a combo mermaid-shark party on 100 Layer Cake. The double cakes! The flowers in shells! The tables “tent”!

I love a shark party and so I’ve course I planned one for our members inside the Party Plan Club.

Also, don’t miss these shark party ideas:

• Shark fin soda bottles
• Shark surprise ball
• Shark chum Jell-O
• Shark candy kebabs
• Shark-cuterie board
• Shark cupcakes

21 – Watermelon Party

Okay, fruit: it could be watermelon, strawberry, citrus or tutti frutti when it comes to a summer fruit-inspired party. But I feel like you see watermelon a little less often so that makes it a little more fun?

This watermelon party by Kelsey Bang is both low-key AND full of amazing balloons. (Trust me, you are not seeing it all in this photo.) The kids ran through a splash pad, so again: you don’t need a pool to have a super-fun summer party.

22 – Outdoor movie night

An outdoor movie night is all about the projector, comfortable seating and a concession stand. It doesn’t have to be elaborate to set up, just comfy and fun for your guests. Think blankets, pillows and popcorn. You’ll want movie theater-sized candy and string of outdoor lights to making the setting more magical.

Life by Leanna set up this darling movie night for her kids and their friends. How excited will the little ones be at getting to stay up late outside?!

And in the Party Plan Club, I’ve got a fully planned Movie Night Party, so if you’re wondering about how to actually show the movie, I’ve got you covered.

23 – Art party

An art party is going to be messy, no matter how well you plan, so host that party outdoors. It will make clean up easier and you won’t be stressed about spills inside.

Craving Some Creativity made this outdoor art party for her son and even had the kids decorate the cake!

HWTM has great art ideas (painting rocks, sand art and more) in this party plus a coordinated printables set available for purchase.

And of course I’ve got an art party inside the Party Plan Club full of lots of art crafts that are easy for kids but tons of fun.

24 – Picnic party

A picnic party is so flexible because you can add a picnic component to any outdoor party. It doesn’t matter what theme, what age, or boys or girls. But there are some logistics to work out, so I’ve explained (and priced) your best options in the picnic party plan inside the Party Plan Club.

And if you want to see how I styled my own daughters’ sweet 16 picnic party, read this post.

25 – Tutti frutti

A tutti frutti party — or two-ti frutti party — is a chance to have some colorful fun.

This tutti frutti party featured on 100 Layer Cake tones down the color palette a bit and is all sorts of gorgeous. Plus: great idea to offer temporary tattoos instead of face painting for kids who will be in and out of the pool. Don’t forget fruit-themed pool floats, mini fruit pinatas for your place settings and colorful florals in citrus hues.

Inside the Party Plan Club, I’ve planned a tutti frutti party — it’s bright and colorful and everything citrus.

26 – Golf

I’ve got a girl’s golf party from Pizzazzerie. The golf ball vases as centerpieces filled with grass and more golf balls? Love. Courtney also served Master’s inspired food. In the back yard, they set up a putting green and her husband gave the kids a golf lesson!

And, a boy’s golf party from Megan Stokes that’s full of preppy details I love. Blue gingham and green? Yes, please: sign me up for putt-putt.

27 – Soccer

If your kids are soccer fans, throw a soccer birthday party. The kids can run simple drills, have a goal-kicking contest, or see who can bounce a soccer balloon on their forehead the longest. Whatever games, you choose, this theme is great for the child with lots of energy to run off.

This soccer party featured on Catch My Party has the cutest dessert table — complete with a goal and trophies! I think the grass panels on the backdrop would also make great table runners.

28 – Baseball

I think what I love most about this baseball party by Finding Lovely are the muted tones of blues and browns with the tiniest touch of red. I love what Jackie does with vintage baseball bats, mini bats and peanuts as centerpieces, plus the motif of blue stripes carrying through the decor. Home run!

If you just need a done-for-you party plan, I’ve already planned a baseball party for you inside the Party Plan Club.

29 – Popsicle

Popsicles are everything that is great about summer. This pool and popsicle party featured on Chickabug leans into the bright happy colors of popsicles for decor and treats and activities.

Serve popsicles, popsicle sugar cookies, and popsicle frosted brownies. Add popsicle rafts to the pool. Stage a pool noodle ring toss, and be sure to include a popsicle pinata!

30 – Summer Camp

Were you a summer camp kid? I was, and there is something so nostalgic about a slight musty log cabin, sleeping bags, tons of friends running from one activity to the next, and singing camp songs.

This summer camp party by Just Add Confetti featured on Catch My Party is just the most creative party I’ve seen in a long time. Campers checked in and earned merit badges in arts and crafts, bug identification, water sports and more!